UTSA’s Medical Humanities programme was launched successful 2016. The programme offers an interdisciplinary attack to medicine and healthcare. Şerife Tekin, subordinate prof of philosophy, has served arsenic the program’s manager since 2021 and has been moving connected further gathering the programme done caller programs and partnerships. 

Of enactment is the $182,000 Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program assistance that the programme received this twelvemonth from the U.S. Department of Education. Tekin explained that the assistance volition assistance internationalize the programme and let students to prosecute successful survey overseas programs and tract studies, giving them planetary exposure. The program’s program volition besides beryllium diversified.

The assistance volition further assistance found the Vocalize San Antonio program, done which students tin intern arsenic aesculapian interpreters successful clinics crossed San Antonio and South Texas. 

This accidental is 1 of respective others that students successful the programme are encouraged to enactment in. In addition, the programme besides offers students internship opportunities to get hands-on acquisition successful the aesculapian field.

“They get people credit, but their internship involves going and really doing thing successful the infirmary oregon moving arsenic a scribe oregon moving arsenic a aesculapian interpreter … truthful that [students] person hands-on acquisition with patients but besides look clip with patients,” Tekin said. 

Tekin has besides helped turn the Medical Humanities Club, which connects students and module extracurricular the classroom.

“I privation to person arsenic overmuch look clip with students arsenic I tin and I privation module to besides person a batch of out-of-class interactions with students because, astatine an instauration similar UTSA, our students bash truthful good with truly adjacent mentorship from module who knows the strategy and who knows however to navigate the system,” Tekin said.

Furthermore, nether Tekin, the programme has besides established a concern with the University of Oxford’s Collaborating Centre for Health and Social Care, providing students with much vulnerability to the discipline. Tekin besides mentioned that a concern with a assemblage successful Belgium is underway arsenic the second is astir to commencement its aesculapian humanities program. 

Along with these opportunities, students instrumentality classes successful science, societal sciences and humanities connected topics similar morals and the doctrine of science. Students besides instrumentality connection classes — a accomplishment Tekin describes arsenic being important successful the discourse of making healthcare much accessible. 

“In the healthcare context, we’re dealing with [vulnerable] people,” Tekin said. “The absorbing constituent of that narration to maine is gathering spot betwixt diligent and caregiver [or] healthcare professional. With that successful mind, [we privation students] to person a scientifically rigorous grooming to go bully providers, but [we besides privation them to be] capable to get [the] patient’s spot [and] emotionally link to them.”

While aesculapian humanities weaves its mode into the rigorous grooming that aesculapian schoolhouse students undergo, UTSA offers this interdisciplinary attack to its undergraduate students, which Tekin describes arsenic a “huge plus” for students successful the program. 

As antecedently mentioned, the programme aims to bid students holistically, exposing them to the much humanistic aspects of healthcare. Currently, the programme offers students 3 concentrations: a pre-medicine track, a wellness careers way and a pre-advanced signifier supplier track. Students enrolled successful the programme person flexibility arsenic they tin take the way that champion suits their needs. Tekin has besides initiated adding a insignificant successful aesculapian humanities.

Students who postgraduate from the programme person gone connected to prosecute antithetic vocation routes, including aesculapian schoolhouse and postgraduate school, arsenic good arsenic concern and law. 

“I deliberation the grade is precise flexible and students person a batch of options … arsenic we are getting much graduates placed successful bully [graduate] programs … the connection of rima benignant of gets around,” Tekin said. 

“I deliberation determination is simply a large push, astatine slightest successful … the humanities areas, to marque the survey of doctrine oregon past oregon languages much applicable to mundane beingness and I deliberation healthcare provides these opportunities,” Tekin added.

More accusation astir UTSA’s Medical Humanities programme tin beryllium recovered astatine https://future.utsa.edu/programs/undergraduate/medical-humanities/.